ASIA:

Singapore is committed to reopening its economy and borders to the rest of the world, said Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat on Monday. The continued opening of the vaccinated travel lanes (VTLs) for quarantine-free travel with more than 20 countries despite the global surge in Covid-19 cases reflects this commitment, he said. Mr Heng, who was speaking at the opening ceremony of the Singapore Airshow 2022, cited the event as another example of Singapore’s commitment to reopening. The airshow will be smaller in scale compared with previous airshows, with attendance hit by the uncertain Covid-19 situation worldwide and accompanying restrictions

The major Asian stock markets had a mixed day today:

• NIKKEI 225 decreased 214.40 points or -0.79% to 26,865.19
• Shanghai increased 17.21 points or 0.50% to 3,446.09
• Hang Seng decreased 200.86 points or -0.82% to 24.355.71
• ASX 200 decreased 37.00 points or -0.51% to 7,206.90
• Kospi decreased 27.94 points or -1.03% to 2,676.54
• SENSEX increased 1,736.21 points or 3.08% to 58,142.05
• Nifty50 increased 509.65 points or 3.03% to 17,352.45

The major Asian currency markets had a mixed day today:

• AUDUSD increased 0.00167 or 0.23% to 0.71464
• NZDUSD increased 0.00162 or 0.24% to 0.66319
• USDJPY increased 0.099 or 0.09% to 115.637
• USDCNY decreased 0.02108 or -0.33% to 6.33709

Precious Metals:

• Gold decreased 16.83 USD/t oz. or -0.90% to 1,853.46
• Silver decreased 0.501 USD/t. oz or -2.10% to 23.329

Some economic news from last night:

Japan:

GDP (QoQ) (Q4) increased from -0.9% to 1.3%

GDP (YoY) (Q4) increased from -3.6% to 5.4%

GDP Capital Expenditure (QoQ) (Q4) increased from -2.3% to 0.4%

GDP External Demand (QoQ) (Q4) increased from 0.0% to 0.2%

GDP Private Consumption (QoQ) (Q4) increased from -1.3% to 2.7%

Capacity Utilization (MoM) (Dec) decreased from 8.0% to -0.4%

Industrial Production (MoM) (Dec) remain the same at -1.0%

South Korea:

Export Price Index (YoY) (Jan) decreased from 23.3% to 22.3%

Import Price Index (YoY) (Jan) increased from 29.6% to 30.1%

Australia:

HIA New Home Sales (MoM) decreased from 11.3% to -8.3%

New Zealand:

External Migration & Visitors (Dec) increased from 3.80% to 4.40%

Permanent/Long-Term Migration (Dec) decreased from -28 to -539

Some economic news from today

China:

FDI (Jan) decreased from 14.90% to 11.60%

India:

Exports (USD) (Jan) increased from 34.06B to 34.50B

Imports (USD) (Jan) decreased from 52.01B to 51.93B

Trade Balance (Jan) increased from -17.94B to -17.42B

New Zealand:

GlobalDairyTrade Price Index increased from 4.1% to 4.2%

EUROPE/EMEA:

The European Central Bank is telling the eurozone banks zone to step up their defenses against cyber-attacks, also in the context of geopolitical tensions such as the stand-off between Russia and Ukraine, the ECB’s top supervisor said on Thursday. Andrea Enria was presenting the results of the ECB’s annual review of banks, which he said showed the industry had coped well with the coronavirus pandemic and capital relief measures could be allowed to expire at the end of this year. Specifically, the ECB was telling banks to train staff so they could tackle this threat and look for weak spots in services they outsource. The central bank has also been running simulated hacks for years.

The major Europe stock markets had a green day:

• CAC 40 increased 127.77 points or 1.86% to 6,979.97
• FTSE 100 increased 77.33 points or 1.03% to 7,608.92
• DAX 30 increased 298.74 points or 1.98% to 15,412.71

The major Europe currency markets had a green day today:

• EURUSD increased 0.00578 or 0.51% to 1.13622
• GBPUSD increased 0.00044 or 0.03% to 1.35362
• USDCHF increased 0.00127 or 0.14% to 0.92580

Some economic news from Europe today:

Norway:

Consumer Confidence (Q1) decreased from 11.00 to 5.50

Trade Balance (Jan) decreased from 106.0B to 91.8B

UK:

Average Earnings ex Bonus (Dec) decreased from 3.8% to 3.7%

Average Earnings Index +Bonus (Dec) increased from 4.2% to 4.3%

Claimant Count Change (Jan) increased from -51.6K to -31.9K

Employment Change 3M/3M (MoM) (Dec) decreased from 60K to -38K

Labour Productivity increased from -1.5% to 1.0%

Unemployment Rate (Dec) remain the same at 4.1%

Spain:

Spanish CPI (MoM) (Jan) decreased from 1.2% to -0.4%

Spanish CPI (YoY) (Jan) decreased from 6.5% to 6.1%

Spanish HICP (MoM) (Jan) decreased from 1.1% to -0.8%

Spanish HICP (YoY) (Jan) decreased from 6.6% to 6.2%

Germany:

German ZEW Current Conditions (Feb) increased from -10.2 to -8.1

German ZEW Economic Sentiment (Feb) increased from 51.7 to 54.3

Euro Zone:

Reserve Assets Total (Jan) decreased from 1057.00B to 1056.84B

Employment Change (YoY) remain the same at 2.1%

Employment Change (QoQ) decreased from 0.9% to 0.5%

Employment Overall (Q4) increased from 160,976.0K to 161,757.8K

GDP (QoQ) (Q4) remain the same at 0.3%

GDP (YoY) (Q4) remain the same at 4.6%

Trade Balance (Dec) decreased from -1.4B to -4.6B

ZEW Economic Sentiment (Feb) decreased from 49.4 to 48.6

US/AMERICAS:

Wholesale prices in the US spiked 1% in January on a monthly basis, while soaring to 9.7% on the yearly level. The price increase marks a new record high based on the Labor Department’s data. Core PPI rose 0.9% last month, surpassing estimates of 0.4%, while increasing 6.9% on an annual basis.

Intel announced plans to purchase Tower Semiconductor to the tune of $5.4 billion amid the global chip shortage. Shares of Tower Semiconductor soared 40% during midday trading. The existing manufacturing facilities exist in both US and Asia, which Intel sees as “geographically complementary.” Intel has been aiming to meet the demand for chips and previously announced a $100 billion investment into a facility in Ohio that they hope will become the world’s largest semiconductor plant.

US Market Closings:

• Dow advanced 422.67 points or 1.22% to 34,988.84
• S&P 500 advanced 69.4 points or 1.58% to 4,471.07
• Nasdaq advanced 348.84 points or 2.53% to 14,139.76
• Russell 2000 advanced 55.67 points or 2.76% to 2,076.46

Canada Market Closings:

• TSX Composite advanced 150.04 points or 0.7% to 21,502.55
• TSX 60 advanced 8.06 points or 0.62% to 1,303.05

Brazil Market Closing:

• Bovespa advanced 928.99 points or 0.82% to 114,828.18

ENERGY:

The oil markets had a mixed day today:

• Crude Oil decreased 3.68 USD/BBL or -3.86% to 91.7800
• Brent decreased 3.39 USD/BBL or -3.51% to 93.0900
• Natural gas increased 0.058 USD/MMBtu or 1.38% to 4.2530
• Gasoline decreased 0.1164 USD/GAL or -4.19% to 2.6630
• Heating oil decreased 0.1069 USD/GAL or -3.61% to 2.8549

The above data was collected around 13:35 EST on Tuesday

• Top commodity gainers: Methanol (2.99%) and Lumber (3.61%), Lean Hogs (1.39%), Coffee (1.62%)
• Top commodity losers: Crude Oil (-3.86%), Palladium(-4.66%), Gasoline(-4.19%) and Heating Oil(-3.61%)

The above data was collected around 13:52 EST on Tuesday.

BONDS:

Japan 0.228%(+1bp), US 2’s 1.5671% (-0.00%), US 10’s 2.0381% (+5.23bps); US 30’s 2.3506% (+0.07%), Bunds 0.31% (+3.7bp), France 0.784% (+2.2bp), Italy 1.973% (-0.1bp), Turkey 20.85% (-11bp), Greece 2.706% (+7.4bp), Portugal 1.207% (+3.2bp); Spain 1.288% (-2.1bp) and UK Gilts 1.5880% (+0.1bp).